The Opportunity
Salary: NJC Grade 8 £32,597 to £35,412 per annum
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: 37 hours per week, full time, Monday to Thursday 9.00am – 5.00pm, Friday 9.00am – 4.30pm
Location: Northleigh, Chichester, (Hybrid working from home with Tuesday and Wednesday office based)
Closing date: 02 June 2026
Interview date: 19 June 2026
A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and proactive individual to join our Early Years Funding team as an Early Years Funding Coordinator.
You will have a key role in supporting managers to meet their statutory duties across a range of early years funding and information projects and plans. You will use your organisational skills to ensure resources are being deployed effectively, priorities maintained within set timescales and help ensure service resilience, as well as ensuring funding information is processed in a timely manner to meet payment schedules and budgetary reporting.
You will liaise with parents, carers, providers, and WSCC colleagues such as Early Years and Childcare Advisors, LADO, MASH, and managers.
Key responsibilities of the role:
* Customer Service: you will engage with customers via phone, email, and social media.
* Developing project schedules and producing presentations.
* Processing and analysing data and producing statistics.
* Supporting incoming requests via triage and evaluating next steps to support the team.
* Referring concerns and advising on complaints.
* Completing complex calculations for funding entitlements and identifying any risk of financial irregularity.
For a full list of the role responsibilities, Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
About You
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
* An excellent communicator, being able to demonstrate initiative and be able to organise, prioritise and manage your own workload, and those of others, and work within recognised procedures.
* A solutions-focused approach, as the work involves responding independently to unanticipated problems and situations, with support and advice given as necessary.
* A professional approach, as at times you may deal with highly sensitive and confidential manners.
* A reliable, efficient and flexible individual who enjoys being part of a team.
* A strong attention to detail, being adept at using IT software confidently.
Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.
Key Skills
1. Excellent communication, customer service and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate and interpret information which may be complex, for example to produce a high-quality document with minimal guidance or produce clear, concise, accurate and impartial information. Including the ability to negotiate solutions across wide areas of the business and successfully convince others of the need to take a specific course of action, using appropriate strategies to deal with challenging behaviour/complaints.
2. Ability to work effectively as part of a team completing shared tasks in order to deliver a service to others and meet set deadlines.
3. Excellent literacy and numeracy skills with the ability to write and present information clearly, concisely, accurately and in ways that promote understanding, either verbally or in written/electronic form to a wide range of audiences and to carry out financial analysis and reporting.
4. Advanced IT skills, using Microsoft Office Suite, in order to be able to make best use of the service’s computerised databases, online provider portal, produce complex spreadsheets and analyse data.
5. Ability to organise/prioritise work, co-ordinate a variety of tasks in a clear and logical way and meet agreed deadlines that minimise the disruption to the business whilst meeting WSCC’s expectations and standards.
6. Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to anticipate problems and resolve issues independently, planning solutions and making sound pragmatic decisions.
About Us
The Early Years Funding team is part of a wider team that provides information, advice and guidance to parents and carers of 0–25-year-olds on Ofsted registered childcare, childcare funding, family activities and support services.
We are a statutory service meeting duties within the Childcare Act 2006. Our service plays a key role for our early years and childcare providers who offer the early years funded entitlements and many families, especially working parents or those wishing to return to work or undertake training. In turn this supports a sustainable and prosperous economy across the county, enabling families to fulfil their potential.
Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:
Employer Pension Contribution: TBC, this alters per annum on the 1 April each year (previous employer contribution for 2025 18.70%)
Annual leave: 27 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 35 days
How to Apply
The reference number for this role is CAFHE06337
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Claire Humphrey-Lewis, Team Manager, Family Information Service at Claire.humphrey-lewis@westsussex.gov.uk
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.
In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
This post is subject to three years referencing, and an occupational health check.
Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact Natalie Greene, Recruitment Specialist, at Natalie.Greene@westsussex.gov.uk
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